Chins co



Nov. 29, 1927.

R; cs. HOFFERT SIGNATURE STITCHH LG MACHINE Filed July 31, i924 2 Sheets-Sheet l wm m d Mada Nov. 29, 1927.

R. G. HOFFERT SIGNATURE STITCHING MACHINE Filed July 31. 1924 2 snags-sheet 2 @QMdZWa Patented Nov. 29,1927.

UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE,

ROY G. HOFFERT, OF RACINE. \VISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE CHRISTENSEN MA- CEZNE 00., OF RACL'I'TE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

SIGNATURE-STITCHING MACHINE.

Application filed July 31, 1924. SerialNo. 729,350.

to certain new and signature stitching This invention relates useful improvements in machines and refers more particularly to that type of machine wherein the signatures are collected in groups or gangs by a continuous conveyor and fed to stitching mech anism to be bound in completed books or pamphlets.

In Letters Patent No. 1,360,886, granted November 30, 1920, to Martin Christensen,

positioned as to have the edges thereof e);-

tended beyond the edges of the signatures, and it is one of the objects of this invention to provide means cooperating with extended cover pusher members whereby the signatures and covers are deposited on the conveyor in engagement with the proper portions of the pusher members.

in experience it has bee; found necessary to em )loy considerable di b ing of extension covers on the conveyor to insure their engagement with the extension cover face or portion of the pusher mem bers ant as a result it has been found neces sary to place the covers on the conveyor by hand, materially slowing down the machine.

it is, therefore, another object of this invention to provide an improved type of station or supporting means mounted above the continuous conveyor on which the signatures and covers are placed and so held with relation to the conveyor to insure the engagement of the signatures with the signature engaging face of the pusher members and the engagement of the covers with the cover engaging face of the pusher members to insure their presentation to the stitching mechanism with the cover edges extended beyond the edges of the signatures the desired distanc A further object of this invention resides in the provision of signature collecting and conveying means which will permit the operation of the stitching machine at high rate oi speed in COHHGQJEIOD vith extension cover work as well as the ordinary type of work.

ence in' the plac- This invention contemplates as astill further object the provision of adjustable membore for the conveyor pusher members which areniade from a single length of material to permit their quantity production at a comparatively low cost.

With the above and other objects in View which will appear as the description prd ceeds, my invention residesin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the ap pended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

In the accompany'in drawings, I have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention constructed according to the best mode I have so far devised for the practical application ofthe principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is aperspective view of a portion of the endless conveyor of a signature stitching machine equipped with my invention Figure 2 is a top plan View of the innermost or cover supporting means or station upon which the covers are deposited to be deposited on, the previously collected groups or gangs 'ofsignatu'res being conveyed by one of the pusher members;

' Figure 3 is a View, partly in transverse section and partly in elevation, taken through the conveyor on the plane of the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure at is a view similar to Figure 3 taken through the conveyor chain at another point on the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 1, and

Figure 5 is aview similar to Figure 4rtaken through Figure 2 on the plane of the line p Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, in which like nu merals designate like parts throughout the.

the guide member being supported at inter- I valsby suitable standards 7. Conveyor 6 is preferably formed of a plurality of conne'ct'ed inverted V-shaped members to provide what is termed in. the art as a saddle.

conveyor, and the lower stretch thereof is protected by a guard housing 8 suitably supported from the standards 7.

As is wellknown in the art, the inner end of the endless conveyor terminates adjacent means for picking up the collected gangs or groups 01 signaturesand advancing them to suitable stitching mechanism, not'shown, from whence they are conveyed and dis charged in the form of completed books. While the conveyor 6 is described as being of the continuously operated type it will be understood that the same may be of the intermittent type adapted to convey the collected groups or gangs of signatures directly to the stitching mechanism.

The conveyor chain is provided at intervals with pusher members 9 and, in the present embodiment, each member 9, comprises a. substantially U-shaped member adapted to beinserted through registered openings in the sides of the members forming the con-- veyor 6 with its outer ends or arms equally extended beyond the opposite sides thereot An adjustable member 10 is carried by each extended end or arm and has an ollset face 11 for engaging the rear edges of the groups or gangs o1 signatures 12, the covers 13 engaging the ends of the pushing members 9 above the members 10 to thus position the edges thereof beyond the edges 01 the signatures a distance equal to that between the offset portions 11 and the ends of the mem- V bers 9.

As clearly illustrated in the drawings, the members 10 are bent from a single length or". material and have a straight shank portion 1 1 which passes through an aperture in the pusher members and are adjustably secured therein by set screws 15, the outer ends of the shank portions being folded, as at 16, and then directed laterally to provide the offset portions 11..

As will be readily obvious, the members 10 are secured in the pusher members with their ollset portions 11 equally spaced therefrom in accordance with the degree it is desired to have the cover 18 extend beyond the signatures 12. This adjustment is quickly effected by the loosening of set screws 15, adjusting the members 10 and tightening the set screws.

It is customary to provide stations or supportin means mounted above the conveyor, and positioned at varying intervals, on which the signatures are placed and engaged by the pusher members as they pass therebeneath and removed from the stations onto the conveyor chain, the outer-most signature or cover being deposited on the innermost station, the next signature on the second station and so on down in order that the signatures may be collected in their proper sequence and presented to the stitching mechanism, not shown, in the form of completed rially reducing the speed of the machine and 2 increasing the cost of handling the work. In. the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, this ditiiculty is overcon'ie and the signatures and covers deposited on the stations without regard to whether errtension cover work or conventional type of work is being handled without decreasing the speed of the machine.

Extended upwardly from the standards 7 are station supports 17, the upper ends 18 of which terminate adjacent the upper stretch of the conveyor and carry trunnions V or bosses 19 from which the signature supporting means or stations 20 and 21 are mounted. The cover station 20 is supported from the inner-most support 17 and the signature stations 21 are supported from the other support 17. As will be readily apparent, there is but one cover station and as many signature stations as the length of the conveyor 6, and consequently the capacity oi? the machine, will accommodate. v

Thestation 20 is in theiform of an angular member 22 positioned above the con veyor in longitudinal alignment therewith and inverted to be partially telescoped thereover, The member 22 is mounted by suit ably securing the outer end thereof to a supporting head 23 whichfis removably fixed on the trunnion or boss 19 of the inner-most support 17 by a set screw 24. As best illustrated in Figures and 5, the member 22 is of a size so that when a cover 13 is positioned thereon the depending portions thereof flare outwardly beyond the adjustable members 10 so that the rear edges of the cover depending portions are engaged by the extended ends of the next pusher member outwardly of the adjustable members 10. The outer end 25 of the supporting head 23 is flared to permit free passage of the previously collected groups or gangs of signatures thereunder.

Each station 21 is in theform of a rod or bar 26, the extreme outer end of which is slightly oifset and removably secured in a carrying head 27 by a set screw 28, the carrying head being in turn removably secured to the boss 19 of its support 17 by a set screw 29. The extreme outer end portion of the bar 26 being oflfset permits the positioning of the bar close to and'parallel with ofv the members which engage the rear edges thereof as the pusher members pass the bar 26, spacing the signatures from the pusher members the distance it is desired to have the covers extend thcreover.

The support 22 of the station is spacec from the conveyor 6 a distance slightly greater than the bars26. of the stations 21 and with this construction is will be readily obvious that the operators need to only deposit the signatures and covers on their respective stations and the pusher members remove the same therefrom onto the conveyor with their edges spaced the desired degree.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a stitching machine having a conveyor carrying a pusher member, a leaf engaging member bent from a single length of material and havin a part to be secured to the pusher member and an offset part normally spaced from the face of the pusher member, said offset part providing a leaf engaging surface and said pusher member providing an extension cover engaging face.

2. In a stitching machine having a conveyor carrying a pusher member, a. leaf enmember bent from a single length of material, a shank carried by the leaf engaging member, means adjustably securing the shank to the pusher member, and a laterally struck part carried by the leaf engaging member, the laterally struck part providing a leaf engaging face and the pusher member outwardly of the leaf engaging member providing an extension cover engaging face.

3. The combination with the conveyor mechanism of a book stitching machine having a pusher member carried thereby and provided with offset signature and cover ongaging faces for conveying a signature and a cover with their adjacent edges spaced, of

a plurality of'supporting means disposed above the conveyor, one of said supporting means being adapted to have a slgnature deposited thereon with its depending portions close to the conveyor in the path of the signature engaging face of the pusher member as the same is carried past said supporting means by the conveyor, the push-er member removing the signature therefrom onto the conveyor, the other of said supporting means being adapted to support a cover above the conveyor with its depending portions out of the path of the signature engaging face of the pusher member but in the path of the cover engaging face thereof to be moved thereby. from the said supporting means onto the conveyor over the signature previously deposited thereon with its edges extended beyond the edges of the signature.

f. The combination with the conveyor mechanism of a book stitching machine having a pusher member c rrie d thereby and provided with offset signature and cover engaging faces for conveying a signature anda cover With their adjacent edges spaced, of a plurality of supporting means disposed above theconveyor, one of said supporting means being relatively narrow in transverse section and adapted, to have a signature deposited thereon with its (:lepending portions close to the conveyor in the path of the signature engaging face of the pusher member as the same is carried pastsaid supporting means by the conveyor, said pusher member removing the signature therefrom onto the conveyor, the other of said supporting means being wider in transverse section than the first-mentioned supporting means and adapted to support a cover above the conveyor with its depending portions out of the path of the signature engaging face of the pusher member but arranged to be engaged by the cover engaging face thereof to be moved thereby from the said supporting means onto the conveyor over the signature previously deposited thereon with its ec ges extended beyond the edges of the signature.

5. The combination with the conveyor mechanism of a book stitching machine having a pusher member carried thereby and provided with offset signature and cover engaging faces for conveying a signature and a cover with their adjacent edges spaced, of a plurality of supporting means disposed above the conveyor, one of said supporting means being in the form of a bar of inverted V-shape in transverse section, means mounting said bar above the conveyor in longitudinal alignment with the apex there of and close thereto, said supporting means bar being adapted to have a signature deposit-ed thereon with its depending portions close to the conveyor in the path of the signature engaging face of the pusher member as the same is carried past said supporting means by the conveyor, said pusher member removing the signature therefrom onto the conveyor,the other of said supporting means including an angular bar of inverted V-shape, and means mounting the supporting means angular bar above the conveyor with its apex in longitudinal alignment with the apex of the conveyor, said angular bar supporting'means being adapted to support a cover above the conveyor with its depending portions out of the path of the signature engaging face of the pusher 'member but arranged to be engaged by the cover engaging faceythereof to be moved thereby from the said supporting means onto the conveyor over the signature previously deposited thereon with its edges extend-ed beyond the edges of the signature.

6. The combination with a book stitching machine and its conveyor mechanism having pusher members carried thereby provided with offset signature and cover engaging faces for conveying collected groups of signatures and covers with their adjacent edges spaced, of a plurality of supporting means disposed, above the conveyor at intervals to form stations upon which signatures and covers are placed to be removed therefrom and deposited on the conveyor by the pusher members as they progress iirom station to station, the supporting means nearest the stitching machine maintaining covers placed thereon in a spread condition whereby their rear edges engage the cover engaging faces of the approaching pusher member to insure the projection of the edges of the cover from the edges of the signatures with which the signature engaging faces of said pusher member are engaged, and the supporting means positioned above the conveyor outwardly of the cover station being adapted to support the signatures placed thereon in a manner to droop downwardly with their folds close to the conveyor mechanism vin line for engagement with the signature engaging iaces of the conveyor mechanism pusher members.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

ROY G. HOFFERT. 

